First Thanksging

My first Thanksgiving was spent in Qatar and wasn’t even celebrated on Thursday.  We had two Thanksgiving celebrations, the first was on another compound and was a hosted dinner for the US troops deployed here in Qatar.  The second was at my house with all our friends gathered to eat yummy food. 

My Friend Cora

Mommy has a really good friend here in Qatar named Dawn.   They met really soon after Mommy and Daddy moved to Doha from Saudi.   Daddy also became friends with Cora's Daddy Matt. Not too long after becoming friends, they both found out they were expecting new babies.  Mommy was due November 1 with me and Dawn was due November 19  with Cora. They kept joking how funny it would be if both babies were born on the same day.  Well, I was 4 days late and Cora decided to come early!  Cora and I were born on the same day about 6 hours apart.  How crazy is that?!  We were next to each other in the labor rooms and then right down the hall from each other in the recovery rooms.  So fun to meet my friend Cora right there in the hospital. 

Week 1

The first week of my life was pretty basic for a newborn.  I ate, slept, pooped...well I didn't do that last one too much which started to worry Mom but don't worry, I'm getting better at it.  This week was filled with snuggle time, and basically just everyone getting used to me being in the family.  My big brother Jacob loved holding me and I enjoyed hearing his voice and all his squeals.  There was a little competition over who was able to hang out with me the most.

I did have a slightly traumatic experience in my first week.  Since we left the hospital so early, they were unable to do my metabolic test.  This test consists of pricking the heel and getting blood to cover 10 little circles on a piece of paper.  Unfortunately I am "not a bleeder" as the nurse kept saying and it took 5 heel pricks and lots of crying for them to complete the test.  However, Mommy got a call 2 days later saying that it wasn't enough and we had to go back and try again!!  Five more heel pricks later and even more tears I finally completed my testing.

Of course we had to squeeze a bath or two into my first week.  It was just a basic sponge bath since I still haven't lost my umbilical cord.  After my first bath I wore my bones pi's to match Jacobs.  Mommy really thought I would be born before Halloween so she had bought us matching pjs. Ooops :)

 We did a few outings including the photo shoot I wrote about before.  One day we went to a park so that Jacob could get some play time and I could enjoy the great outdoors.

 I have been a good sleeper since the beginning.  I decided that I wanted some private Nana and Grandma time at night so they take turns hanging out with me from midnight until around 3 or 4 am. They then give me my only bottle of the day before taking me back to Mommy. Look how sweet I am! Who wouldn't want to hang out with me?

Newborn Pictures

During my first week, at 5 days old, I went out for my first photo shoot.  My brother  wasn't so cooperative with taking pictures so we only have a couple with him but I think they all still turned out beautiful!  It's tough being so pretty.

Birth Day

Hi, my name is Hailey Danielle Sperling and I was born on November 5, 2014 at 4:26pm in Doha Qatar at Al-Ahli Hospital.  I came into the world weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and measuring 21".  My original doctor, Prof Badreldeen, was an excellent doctor while I was in the womb but sadly he missed my birth so we had the "on-call" doctor.  Luckily everything still turned out great.  After a traumatic trip, I was finally able to meet my Mommy and Daddy.  I can already tell I'm going to have Daddy wrapped around my little finger.  Unfortunately, they kicked my Nana out of the delivery room but she didn't go far so I was able to meet her on my way to get a bath. 

Once we finally were moved from a delivery room to a recovery room, my Grandma and my awesome big brother came to visit me.  I was so happy to finally meet my big brother.  He didn't know what to think of me at first but eventually he decided he wanted to hold me.

I was also happy to finally meet my Grandma and get more time with Nana and Daddy.  

After less than 24 hours in the hospital, they finally let me take Mommy and Daddy home so that I could have everyone all to myself and not be in that tiny hospital room.  Nana and Grandma were waiting at home with Jacob for us to arrive.  Everyone was so excited that I had made it home.